Door hinge

ABSTRACT

An elongated door hinge is removably connected to either one of a door member and a door frame of a support member and one end portion of the hinge includes a depending spring-like blade member which works against a protuberant member on one of the door member and the door frame to provide a bias to said door hinge whereby the door hinge imparts a snap-action movement to said door member to either its open end or closed position with respect to said door frame and thereafter is effective to retain the door member in such position.

United States Patent [191 Goetz, Jr. et al.

[ 1 Sept. 24, 1974 DOOR HINGE [75] Inventors: Frederick J. Goetz, Jr., Arlington Heights; Edward R. Kalenda, Franklin Park, both of I11.

[52] US. Cl. 16/184, 16/149 [51] Int. Cl E051 1/12, FOSd 7/12 [58] Field of Search 16/171, 148, 149, 135, 16/180, 181, 182, 190; 220/27, 89 A; 70/422; 292/70, 76

[56] References Cited UNITED STATES PATENTS 48,630 4/1865 Sehner 16/184 125,354 4/1872 Wakenshaw.... 16/184 648,666 5/1900 King 16/184 935,087 9/1909 Bloomer.. 16/171 X 1,253,641 l/l9l8 Steele 70/422 1,572,346 2/1926 Adsit 16/149 X 2,059,582 11/1936 Hurewitz 16/184 X 2,231,909 2/1941 l-Iempel 16/176 X 2,780,219 2/1957 Pollock 16/149 X 3,304,118 2/1967 Jonas 16/149 3,432,882 3/1969 Farouche l6/l7l OTHER PUBLICATIONS IBM Tech. Disc. Bulletin, Cover Hinge, F. Schlegel, Vol.5, No.8,1, 1963.

Primary ExaminerPaul R. Gilliam Attorney, Agent, or FirmDonald B. Southard; Vincent Rauner [5 7] ABSTRACT An elongated door hinge is removably connected to either one of a door member and a door frame of a support member and one end portion of the hinge includes a depending spring-like blade member which works against a protuberant member on one of the door member and the door frame to provide a bias to said door hinge whereby the door hinge imparts a snap-action movement to said door member to either its open end or closed position with respect to said door frame and thereafter is effective to retain the door member in such position.

4 Claims, 7 Drawing Figures DOOR HINGE" BACKGROUND This invention relates generally to connecting devices which comprise door hinges, and more particularly, to an improved door hinge which is removable and which provides a definite snap-action movement of the door member to either its open or-closed position and retains it in such position.

Certain critical front mounted adjustable controls for a television receiver are often positioned behind a hinged door member in order to provide protective access thereto while enhancing the asthetic appearance of the receiver. The door hinges which have heretofore been used to depend the door member from a complementary encasing or door frame of a support member have been deficient in at least one of several desirable features. A primary desirable feature is to provide a door hinge that will selectively retain the doormember in both its open and closed positionswith respect to'the door frame. Itis desirable that the hinge be easily removed from its connection between the door member and the door frame so that the door member can thereby be removed for service reasons. It is also desirable to prevent frequent breakage of the door by providing a hinge that will disengage upon the application of a large inadvertent force to the door member. Another desirable feature is to provide ahinge that is durable and rugged in construction but yet simple in operation and economical to manufacture. Still another desirable feature is to provide a sufficient bias to the door member through the action of the hinge to move the door to both its open and closed positions with minimum effort.

SUMMARY It is therefore an object of the present invention to provide a door hinge that is removably connected to either a door member or its receiving door frame and which imparts a snap-action movement to the door member to both its open and closed positions and thereafter selectively retains the door in these positions by means of an overcenter cam action between the hinge and a protuberant cooperating member provided on either the door member or the door frame.

An elongated door hinge for use with a door member movable between open and closedpositions with respect to a door frame of a support member has first and second end portions and an intermediate portion therebetween. Either one of the first and second end portions can be removably connected to either oneof the door frame and the door member. One of the door frame and the door member includes a protuberant member having one surface with a raised portion intermediately thereof. The second end portion of the'door hinge includes a pair of spaced arm members pivotally connected to said protuberant member and further includes a depending spring-like blade member provided generally between said arm members and slidably engaging the one surface of the protuberant member when the arm members are connected to the protuberant member and the door member is moved between its open and closed positions. With movement of the blade member across the raised portion ofthe protuberant member, the depending blade member is biased firstly by the raised portion and thereafter released from engagement therewith for imparting to the door member a snap-action movement to its open and closed positions.

THE DRAWING FIG. 1 is a frontal perspective view of a television receiver cabinet having a front escutcheon and showing a door member mounted therein for concealing certain controls for the receiver;

FIG. 2 is an exploded perspectiveview of the door member. a pair of door hinges and a top portion of the escutcheon which serves as a door frame and showing a removable connection between the hinges and the escutcheon;

FIG. 3 is a side perspective view of one of the door hinges of FIG. 2;

FIG. 3a is a side perspective view of an alternative embodiment of the door hinge;

FIG. 4 is a view generally taken along the line- 4-4 of FIG. 2 with the door member depended from theescutcheon by the door hinges and having a portion of the upper hinge removed to show an engagement between a spring-like blade member of the hinge and a protuberant member on the door;

FIG. 4a is a view similar to FIG. 4 showing an alternative embodiment for the protuberant member; and

FIG. 4b is a view similar to FIG. 4 showing another alternative embodiment for the protuberant member.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION FIG. 1 shows a television receiver 20 having acabinet housing 21 for enclosing the operational parts of the receiver including a picture tube of which only the viewing screen 23 is visible from the front face 22 of the cabinet 21. The receiver 20 conveniently includes various front mounted audio-image adjustment controls including channel selectors 24, volume control 26 and other color-image focusing and tuning dials and switches that are provided in a front escutcheon 27 for the receiver 20. A door member 30 is pivotally mounted to the front escutcheon 27 in a top portion thereof and when the door is in its closed position serves to conceal certain critical ones of the colorimage focusing and tuning adjustments.

FIG. 2 shows a top portion of the escutcheon 27 with the door member 30 removed therefrom, the top portion having an open box-like construction with a rear wall 31 and side walls 33. The escutcheon 27 serves as a support member and the side walls 33 comprise the door frame for the door 30. The rear wall 31 is provided with multiple openings such as slots 35 and apertures 34 for receiving therethrough the slides and knobs, respectively, of the color-image control adjustments. If desired, the inside wall of the door member 30 can be conveniently recessed in areas 37 complementary to these control adjustments for permitting clearances thereof.

Now in accordance with the present invention, a pair of removable snap-action door hinges 40 are used to pivotally depend the door member 30 from the support escutcheon member 27. FIG. 3 shows one of the door hinges 40, the construction of one hinge being identical to that of the other hinge so that only an explanation of a single door hinge need be given. The door hinge 40 is'generally elongated in itsconstruction having a first end portion 41, an intermediate portion 42 and aweend end portion 43. The hinge 40 is generally offset along its intermediate port-ion 42 so as to'position the first and second end portions 41 and'42 in parallel and spaced planes; however, this is only a preferred embodiment and it is to be noted that other configurations could be utilized as well. 7

It is desirable that the door hinge 40 be removably connected to either one of the door member 30 or the escutcheon 27. This removable connection permits the removal of the door without damage should a large force be applied to the door member 30 when the door isin its open position with respect to'the door frame. In the preferred embodiment FIGS. 2 and 3 show the removable connection being provided between the first end portion 41 of the door hinge 40 and the rear wall 31 of the escutcheon 27. To this end, an insertable post 44 is attached to the end portion 41 of the hinge and is then aligned to be received within a tubular sleeve 45 which mounts within a suitable aperture "38 in the rear wall 31. The sleeve 45 is generally elongated including a number of expandable longitudinal sections having external protruding barbs which wedge internal to the aperture 38 for conveniently retaining the sleeve 45 within the aperture 38.

In order to provide a secure engagement between the hinge 40 and the sleeve 45, the free end portion of the post 44 is slightly enlarged so as to expand the longitudinal'sections of the sleeve 45. The construction of the sleeve 45 is well known and such parts are commercially available from a number of manufacturers. A large component of force directed outwardly along the axis of the post 44 will defeat the wedge connection between the sleeve 45 and the post 44 so as 'to "remove the door 30 and the hinge 40 from the escutcheon 27. The second end portion 43 of the hinge 40 includes a pair of generally parallel and oppositely spaced protruding arm members 46 and a depending spring-like blade member 48 positioned generally therebetween. This particular construction of the hinge 40 can be made from a single strip of flat metal stock except for the post 44. The free end portions of the arms 46 are provided with suitable apertures 47 whereby the hinge 40 can be fastened as with a pin 49 to a protuberant member or boss 50 provided on the door 30. The pin 49 extends through the member 50 and comprises an axis of rotation for the hinge 40. In the preferred embodiment, this connection is intended to be a permanent one as contrasted to the removable connection made between the post 44 and the sleeve 45.

It is to be noted that when the arms 46 are pivotally connected to the protuberant member 50, the free end portion of the blade member 48 is forced against the protuberant member so as to impart a spring biasing effect to the door hinge 40. This biasing force is utilized to firmly maintain the door 30 in either one of its open or closed positions for obtaining the advantages mentioned earlier in this application. Additionally, the blade member 48 cooperates with the protuberant member 50 in a manner to be set forth with particularity hereafter to impart a snap-action movement to the door 30 in moving from either one of its open or closed position to the other position. i

FIG. 4 shows a top view of the door hinge 40 when connected to the protuberant member 50, the protuberant member being provided with a pair of blade contact surfaces 51 and 53 which intersect 'to form a right angle. These two contact surfacesSland 53 can be considered as a single surface when theformation of the intersectional corner is viewed broadly as a raised portion along a single curved surface. A later study of two variations of the surfaces 51 and 53 in FIGS. 4a and 4b reinforces this broader analysis of the structural requirement of the protuberant member 50.

The door 30 is shown in FIG. 4'in its open position with respect to the door frame. It can be seen that the blade member 48 is in engagement with the contact surface 53 and is effective to push against the protuberant member 50 to maintain the door 30 in the open position. Now as the door 30 is moved toward its closed position with respect to the escutcheon 27 as shown in FIG. 4 by the arrow 55 drawn in a clockwise (CW) direction, the corner of the boss 50 forces the blade member 48 further inwardly against its outward bias until the corner passes out of contact with the blade.

Thereupon, the stored energy of the spring blade 48 3 acts against the contact surface 51 to force the door 30 to move to its closed position with a snap-action movement. Obviously, the movement of the corner which comprises the raised portion of the boss 50 in the opposite direction from the arrow 55 will cause a snapaction movement of the door 30 back to its open position.

FIG. 4a shows an alternative embodiment at 57 for the boss 50 of FIG. 4. The respective contact surfaces are shown to form an acute angle so as to give the surfaces generally a parabolic configuration when considered as a single contact surface. The interaction between the alternative boss 57 and the blade member 48 of the hinge 40 when the door is moved in the direction of the CW arrow 58 is precisely the same as that explained above for FIG. 4.

FIG. 4b shows another alternative boss 59 having a single generally curved surface 61 provided with a raised portion 63 generally centrally thereof for obtaining the biasing action from the blade member 48 of the hinge 40. It is to be noted that the blade contact surfaces such as 51 and 53 of the boss 50 have central portions thereof which are more closely spaced to the axis of rotation of the hinge than is the intersection of these surfaces (the raised portion). It is found to be desirable in these various configurations of protuberant members 50, 57 and 59 if these contact surfaces are approximately symmetrical about the axis of rotation for the hinges so as to provide uniform biases against the door 30 in moving to both its open and closed positions.

Finally, it is to be understood that the removable connection made between the hinge 40 and the escutcheon 27 by the post 44 and sleeve 45 can be provided by other means. For example, FIG. 3a shows an alternative door hinge 65 having generally the same configuration as the door hinge 40 and using the same reference numerals to identify identical parts thereof, but for which the post 44 is not provided. Instead, any standard fastener or connector can be used to obtain a secure fixed-type connection to the escutcheon 27 while the removable connection is provided between the door 30 and the hinge 40.

FIG. 3a shows the free end portions of the spaced arm members'of the hinge 65 provided with protrusions 67 to comprise'an inwardly facing pair of such protrusions. The protrusions 67 can then be removably connected to the cooperating protuberant members such as 50, 57' and 59 by providing relatively shallow dishshaped concave recesses therein (not shown) in which to receive the protrusions.

A desired configuration for the protrusions 67 would be a hemisphere so that disengagement with the concave recesses would be more easily accomplished. Also, the arm members of the boss 65 could be made to provide an inwardly directed spring-like bias to more firmly hold the protrusions 67 in the recesses. Obviously, such protrusions could be provided instead on the protuberant members 50, 57 and 59 and the concave recesses could be provided in the arm members of the hinge 65.

While the present invention has been shown and described with reference to the preferred embodiments thereof, the invention is not limited to the precise forms set forth herein, and various modifications and changes may be made without departing from the spirit and scope thereof.

We claim:

l. A door hinge assembly for use with a door member movable between open and closed positions with respect to a door frame ofa support member, one of said door member and said door frameincluding at least one protuberant member having thereon one surface having a raised portion generally centrally thereof, including in combination: an elongated, single-piece, Z- shaped, door hinge member of unitized construction having first and second end-portions and an intermediare portion thereof, said first end portion being adapted for connection to the other of said door member and said door frame, and said second end portion of said door hinge including a pair of spaced arm members for pivotally connecting said door hinge to said protuberant member and further including a depending springlike blade member provided generally between said arm members and slidably engaging along substantially its entire length said one surface of said protuberant member when said arm members are connected to said protuberant member and said door member is moved between said open and closed positions, separate movable attaching means for affixing said first and second end portions of said door hinge to a respective one of said door frame and said protuberant member of said door member, said blade member being biased firstly by said raised portion and thereafter released from engagement therewith with movement of said blade member across said raised portion whereby a snap-action movement is imparted to said door member.

2. The door hinge of claim 1 wherein one of said pair of arm members and said protuberant member includes at least a pair of knob-like bosses and the other of said pair of arm members and said protuberant member includes at least a pair of generally recessed areas for receiving said bosses, respectively, said bosses being removable from said recessed areas for providing a removable snap-on connection between said door hinge and said one of said door member and said door frame.

3. The door hinge of claim 1 wherein said first end portion of said door hinge includes one of a socket clip means and an insertable post member and said other of said door member and said door frame includes the other of said socket clip means and said post member for providing a removable plug-in connection between said door hinge and said other of said door member and said door frame.

4. The door hinge of claim 1 wherein said pivotal connection of said arm members with said protuberant member defines an axis of rotation for moving said door hinge about said protuberant member, and said one surface of said protuberant member is spaced from and extends about said axis of rotation and has first and second surface portions separated by said raised portion of said one surface which engage said sliding blade member with said door member substantially in its open and closed positions, respectively, said first and second surface portions being more closely spaced to said axis of rotation than is said raised portion. 

1. A door hinge assembly for use with a door member movable between open and closed positions with respect to a door frame of a support member, one of said door member and said door frame including at least one protuberant member having thereon one surface having a raised portion generally centrally thereof, including in combination: an elongated, single-piece, Z-shaped, door hinge member Of unitized construction having first and second end portions and an intermediate portion thereof, said first end portion being adapted for connection to the other of said door member and said door frame, and said second end portion of said door hinge including a pair of spaced arm members for pivotally connecting said door hinge to said protuberant member and further including a depending spring-like blade member provided generally between said arm members and slidably engaging along substantially its entire length said one surface of said protuberant member when said arm members are connected to said protuberant member and said door member is moved between said open and closed positions, separate movable attaching means for affixing said first and second end portions of said door hinge to a respective one of said door frame and said protuberant member of said door member, said blade member being biased firstly by said raised portion and thereafter released from engagement therewith with movement of said blade member across said raised portion whereby a snap-action movement is imparted to said door member.
 2. The door hinge of claim 1 wherein one of said pair of arm members and said protuberant member includes at least a pair of knob-like bosses and the other of said pair of arm members and said protuberant member includes at least a pair of generally recessed areas for receiving said bosses, respectively, said bosses being removable from said recessed areas for providing a removable snap-on connection between said door hinge and said one of said door member and said door frame.
 3. The door hinge of claim 1 wherein said first end portion of said door hinge includes one of a socket clip means and an insertable post member and said other of said door member and said door frame includes the other of said socket clip means and said post member for providing a removable plug-in connection between said door hinge and said other of said door member and said door frame.
 4. The door hinge of claim 1 wherein said pivotal connection of said arm members with said protuberant member defines an axis of rotation for moving said door hinge about said protuberant member, and said one surface of said protuberant member is spaced from and extends about said axis of rotation and has first and second surface portions separated by said raised portion of said one surface which engage said sliding blade member with said door member substantially in its open and closed positions, respectively, said first and second surface portions being more closely spaced to said axis of rotation than is said raised portion. 